Discover all the beauties a walk near the Seine river might offer you. This tour on the famous Ile de France starts with Pont Neuf and takes you to the major tourist attractions you might want to visit when in Paris. It comprises a quick look into the history of France, religious sites and a few must stop specialty shops.
1) Pont Neuf
The Pont Neuf is the oldest standing bridge across the river Seine in Paris, France. Its name, which was given to distinguish it from older bridges that were lined on both sides with houses, has remained. Standing by the western point of the Île de la Cité, the island in the middle of the river that was the heart of medieval Paris, it connects the Rive Gauche of Paris with the Rive Droite. The bridge is composed of two separate spans, one of five arches joining the left bank to the Île de la Cité, another of seven joining the island to the right bank. Old engraved maps of Paris show how, when the bridge was built, it just grazed the downstream tip of the Île de la Cité; since then, the natural sandbar building of a mid-river island, aided by stone-faced embankments called quais, has extended the island. Today the island is the Square du Vert-Galant, a park named in honour of Henry IV, nicknamed the "Green Gallant."
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Steve
2) Marché aux Fleurs
Marché aux Fleurs is a famous street along the Seine, entirely dedicated to flowers as there is a neat market where you can either buy some beautiful flowers or just delight your eyes with their beauty. It has been there since 1808 and it displays a wide variety of plants, trees and flowers each season. If you are lucky to be here on a Sunday, you can also visit the bird market where you can see rare species of birds.
Image Courtesy of Flickr and amerune
3) La Conciergerie
The Conciergerie is a former royal palace and prison in Paris, France, located on the west of the Île de la Cité, near the Cathedral of Notre-Dame. It is part of the larger complex known as the Palais de Justice, which is still used for judicial purposes. Hundreds of prisoners during the French Revolution were taken from La Conciergerie to be executed on the Guillotine at a number of locations around Paris. While the building looks like a brooding medieval fortress, this appearance actually only dates from about 1858. The Conciergerie was decommissioned in 1914 and was opened to the public as a national historical monument. It is today a popular tourist attraction, although only a relatively small part of the building is open to public access- much of it is still used for the Paris law courts.
Image Courtesy of Flickr and Hugovoyages
4) La Sainte-Chapelle
La Sainte-Chapelle ("The Holy Chapel") is a Gothic chapel on the Île de la Cité in the heart of Paris, France. It is perhaps the high point of the full tide of the rayonnante period of Gothic architecture. The Sainte-Chapelle, the palatine chapel in the courtyard of the royal palace on the Île de la Cité, was built to house precious relics: Christ's crown of thorns, the Image of Edessa and thirty other relics of Christ that had been in the possession of Louis IX since August 1239, when it arrived from Venice in the hands of two Dominican friars. The most visually beautiful aspects of the chapel, and considered the best of their type in the world, are its stained glass for which the stonework is a delicate framework, and rose windows added to the upper chapel in the fifteenth century.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Didier B
5) Notre Dame Cathedral
Notre Dame de Paris, also known as Notre Dame Cathedral, is a Gothic, Roman Catholic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. Notre Dame de Paris is widely considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture in France and in Europe. Notre Dame de Paris was one of the first Gothic cathedrals, and its construction spanned the Gothic period. Its sculptures and stained glass show the heavy influence of naturalism, unlike that of earlier Romanesque architecture. The cathedral suffered desecration during the radical phase of the French Revolution in the 1790s, when much of its religious imagery was damaged or destroyed. During the 19th century, an extensive restoration project was completed, returning the cathedral to its previous state.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Tej
6) Memorial of the Deportation
The Mémorial de la Déportation is a memorial to the 200,000 people deported from Vichy France to the Nazi concentration camps during the Second World War. It is in Paris, France on the site of a former morgue, underground behind Notre Dame on Île de la Cité. It was designed by French modernist architect, writer, teacher, and town planner Georges-Henri Pingusson and opened in 1962. A circular plaque on the floor of the underground chamber is inscribed: "They descended into the mouth of the earth and they did not return." Along both walls of the narrow chamber are 200,000 crystals with light shining through meant to symbolize each of the deportees who died in the concentration camps. At the exit to the chamber is the injunction, engraved, found at all sites memorializing the victims of the Nazis: "Forgive but never forget."
Image Courtesy of Flickr and WordRidden
7) La Ferme Saint-Aubin
La Ferme Saint-Aubin is one of the best fromageries to be found in town. Christian Lelann, the owner, is an expert in cheese making and owns several other shops in Paris. His authentic production of cheeses attracts a lot of visitors that would like to taste some good French cheese.
Image Courtesy of Flickr and VT_Professor
8) Berthillon
And finally the last stop and probably one the favorite touristic spots on Ile Saint Louis is of course Berthillion. It is a French manufacturer and retailer of luxury ice cream and sorbet, being renowned for using natural ingredients with no chemical preservatives nor artificial sweeteners. You can also find many other Berthillion retailers selling ice cream on street corners, but this shop is said to be the best, so do not hesitate to pass by.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and David Monniaux